Adult Day Care Adults with mental or physical limitations can spend the day in a supervised environment that offers recreation, meals and other services. Having a safe place for the ailing person to go can provide the care giving family member with much needed respite. Transportation to and from the…
Effective January 1, 2010, Illinois enacted its Virtual Representation Statute which enlarges the circumstances under which a trustee and certain beneficiaries can modify an irrevocable trust by nonjudicial agreement. This modification can be made without the expense of going to court. The Virtual Representation Statute does two things. It greatly…
Effective January 1, 2010, Illinois enacted the Banking Convenience Account for Depositors Act which allows account owners to create joint accounts that allow non-owners to make deposits and withdrawals. The accounts do not have Payable On Death or Transfer on Death designations. The non-owners have no survivorship rights as there…
If there is controversy in an estate, commencing a probate proceeding will provide a forum to resolve the controversy. This is a situation where one may not want to avoid probate. Opening probate when there is controversy will also provide a forum to the other side. For example, all creditors’…
Under current law, any estate tax exemption amount that a spouse does not use by the time of his death cannot be used by a surviving spouse and expires upon the first spouse’s death. Portability, as proposed in the Taxpayer Certainty and Relief Act of 2009, would allow the surviving…
In 2010, the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005 (TIPRA) gets rid of the income ceiling that prevented individuals with modified adjusted gross income in excess of $100,000 from making a qualified rollover to a Roth IRA. After 2009, any kind of IRA (Individual Retirement Account) can be…
The Illinois Power of Attorney Act includes provisions for powers of attorney for healthcare. A power of attorney for healthcare allows an individual (Principal) to give another individual (Agent) authority to act on the Principal’s behalf as far as healthcare decisions. The Principal may specify when the Agent has authority…
Effective January 1, 2010, the income tax limit for transferring assets from a traditional Individual Retirement Account (IRA) to a Roth IRA is permanently dropped. These conversions will be subject to income tax, but future withdrawals (that meet holding requirements) will be tax free. There are three options for paying…
Effective November 6, 2009 a new tax credit is available for both repeat and first-time home buyers. The National Association of Home Builders’s website provides specific details. One can qualify for a tax credit up to 10% of the purchase price of a new home (maximum credit $6500) if one…
Reverse mortgages are available to homeowners age 62 and older. There is no minimum income or credit score requirement. A provision in the economic stimulus package raised the maximum home value that can be counted for reverse mortgages from $417,000 to $625,500. However, the full value of the home is…